Rupee falls 19 paise to 82.94 against US dollar

MUMBAI: The rupee depreciated 19 paise to 82.94 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by a strong American currency and a muted trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.87 against the dollar, then fell further to 82.94, registering a decline of 19 paise over its last close.

In the previous session on Friday, the rupee settled at 82.75 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.04 per cent to 105.25.

Forex traders said the Indian rupee depreciated on weak domestic markets and a positive greenback. Rebound in crude oil prices also weighed on the rupee.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.38 per cent to USD 82.84 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 159.67 points or 0.27 per cent lower at 59,300.22. The broader NSE Nifty declined 46.90 points or 0.27 per cent to 17,418.90.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,470.34 crore, according to exchange data.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, India's forex reserves dropped by USD 5.681 billion to USD 561.267 billion in the week ended February 17, the RBI said on Friday.